The Shoreline Walk is a popular and easy four kilometres return lineal walk along part of the western foreshore of the Googong reservoir, within the Googong Foreshores reserve. Rather than return via the same route I continued along Shannons Inlet (otherwise the turnaround point) until I connected with the management track and the Western Foreshores walk and used that track to complete my walk. This added nearly a kilometre to the walk’s length and sightly increased its difficulty but it let me walk through, and enjoy, an area of open grassland with sweeping views of the countryside, the reservoir and the Queanbeyan escarpment to the east. It also gave me a less picturesque view of suburbia housing in Googong village, off to my left, as I approached the end of the walk. Give yourself at least an hour and a half to enjoy this walk.
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Bradleys Creek Walk – Googong Foreshores
Bradleys Creek walk, at 14.2 kms return, is the longest and most difficult walk in the northern section of the Googong Foreshores reserve. It is also one of the most rewarding in terms of views and in getting a good cardio work-out. It requires a reasonable level of fitness and, with that, will take around four hours (plus stops) to complete.
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The Black Wallaby Loop Track and Googong Lookout – Googong Foreshores
The Black Wallaby Loop Track is a relatively easy 2.6 kms loop walk within Googong Foreshores reserve and for me has the largest bang for buck, in terms of scenery, of all the walks in the reserve. This bang for buck can be increased if you vary the walk slightly to include a visit to the Googong Lookout and return via the tail end of the Bradleys Creek walk, rather than returning via the bitumen road, as outlined in the reserve’s brochure. Opting for this variation (covered in this post) will add 1.8 kms to the walk making it 4.4 kms, without increasing the walk’s difficulty rating. Allow at least 1.5 hrs for the extended walk.
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Cascades Walk – Googong Foreshores
At about 200 metres return this is the shortest and easiest, noting that there are some steps, walk in the Googong Foreshores reserve. If you just walk in and enjoy the views then you can easily complete the walk in 15 minutes.
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Tin Hut Dam Walk – Googong Foreshore
At around 1.5 kilometres (or just over two kilometres if take a short side trip for a look at the Queanbeyan River and the lower reaches of the Googong Reservoir as I did) the walk around Tin Hut Dam is one of the shortest and easiest walks in the Googong Foreshore reserve. While there is no defined path along the western side of the dam, rather you walk through open reserve close to the bank of the dam, you cannot get lost.
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Queanbeyan River Walk – Googong Foreshores
Do not be fooled or lulled into a false sense of security by the name of this walk (or the associated Queanbeyan River Loop Ride). This is no genteel promenade along the banks of the Queanbeyan River but rather a hard eighteen kilometres hike up and down park management trails which, apart from at two points, is not within sight of the river. Don’t let that put you off though, if you have a reasonable level of fitness this is a very worthwhile walk.
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London Bridge Walk – via London Bridge Homestead
I have done this circular walk a number of times and prefer doing it in an anti-clockwise direction, contrary to the recommended (signposted) route. Don’t worry you won’t get lost and it’s a great walk in either direction, I just prefer to walk the longer, less steep, downhill section first-up with a shorter steeper finish.
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London Bridge, Googong – Walk via Drawdown Crossing
It is amazing to think that millions of years ago, around 420 million to be more precise, the London Bridge, Googong area was part of the ocean floor. As the ocean receded the arch, which would become known as the London Bridge Arch, slowly formed by water leaching through the fossiliferous limestone, enlarging cracks, until a passage big enough to let the Burra Creek through was created. The arch reached its present form about 20,000 years ago.
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Jerrabomberra Mountain Reserve – Summit Walk
As a continuation of my exploration of the New South Wales – Australian Capital Territory(ACT) border city of Queanbeyan, started the week before, I thought it would be a good idea to go for a walk to the summit of nearby Mount Jerrabomberra from which there are expansive views down over the city. An added treat, I read, would be the views back to the ACT summits of Black Mountain, Mount Ainslie and Mount Majura, as well as views out towards the distant Brindabellas. The also touted views down to the Hume light industrial estate were less of a drawcard, for me. Continue reading “Jerrabomberra Mountain Reserve – Summit Walk”
The Rambling Wombat 